A Beautiful Friendship
by trankwility
Summary: **author'snotes** The adventures of young Cloud and Aerith. cloudxaerith /drabble no. 9: Innocence/
1. Chance Meeting

**a/n**: Just to clarify.

_"speech" _is Cloud's thoughts  
"speech" is regular talking.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story.

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**A Beautiful Friendship**

cloudxaerith

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"Cloud!" 

_- insert 'Interrupted by Fireworks'__ (Disc Three, track 16 of FFVII: OST) to the BG - _

A young boy, no younger than eight, had run off from his mother…_again._ His childish laughter filled the air as he ran down the empty alley into the busy streets of Midgar. He stopped at the end of the alley and turned around to look at his mother, who was frantically running towards him. With a wide grin stretching across his face, he held out his arms to his side and began running around in circles.

"Mom, look! I'm an airplane!!" Cloud vibrated his lips against each other, imitating the jets of the plane and began circling the nearest lamp post. The young boy's laughter filled the air again in the utmost of enjoyment _until_….**BAM**!

"_Ow..."_

"Ouch..."

Cloud found himself lying on the floor; his head was throbbing in pain. He scrunched his face up in anguish and began to rub his chocobo-yellow hair, totally disregarding the quiet voice that rang near him. Cloud forced himself up and bit down on his lower lip. He shut his eyes tight, trying to bear the pain in his head when his mom's booming voice came out of nowhere causing him to fall back down.

"CLOUD!" "Aerith!"

"Moomm..." Cloud whined quietly_." Wait... who?" _

"Cloud! Are you okay!!?"

He felt his mother's strong arms wrap around his small body, and soon he found himself lifted off the ground and in the most embarrassing position he could be in. Cradled like a baby in his mother's arms. He shook himself back to reality and pushed himself away from his mom.

"Mo-omm, put me down! I'm okay..." He saw his mother's stern look and silenced himself. Her blue eyes scanned her son and with a sigh, she set her little boy down. "Okay, okay... Don't be such a baby." Cloud glared at his mom and received a smug smile. He stuck his tongue out at her and didn't notice the young girl watching all of this until her small giggle caught his attention. His shocked blue eyes slowly turned to the source of the sound and all the blood from his body rushed to the very center of his face.

There, in front of his very eyes, was a small girl and dancing upon her lower face with dimples tugging lightly along was a smile that Cloud could never forget.

The girl had long brunette hair, tied neatly in a braid at the top of her head. Her white blouse was neatly tucked into her emerald skirt that brought out the color of her shimmering eyes. The girl waved shyly at Cloud and he looked down, trying to hide his already blushing face. As he looked down, he heard his mom talking to another woman. She was apologizing for what he had done though he wasn't really listening as something on the ground caught his eye.

A small, white flower was lying on the sidewalk, its bright colors stuck out like a sore thumb against the gray, dull concrete. Cloud reached for it and touched its fragile leaves; he then picked it up and examined it, awing its beauty. _"Wow..."_All of sudden, green eyes popped out from below him, scaring him to death. Cloud yelped and jumped back, clutching the delicate flower in his hand. The same amused giggle escaped from the young girl's lips and Cloud found himself blushing again...

"Do you like it?" The girl's soft voice had startled him and he looked at her, not knowing what to say. Blue eyes were staring right into green ones until his mouth had blabbered out the most idiotic question.

"What is it?"

Again, that amused giggle taunted Cloud. "It's a flower, silly. " He looked down in embarrassment. "_Idiot."_Cloud couldn't bring himself to look at the girl until her voice had caught his attention again. "So-o, do you like it?" He found himself looking at that smile again and absent-mindedly nodded in agreement. The girl tilted her head to the side slightly and grinned ever so sweetly. She clasped her hands together, "thenn... You can have it! I have a lot more anyway." She nodded at Cloud, and he just stared at her like an idiot.

Cloud was finally broken from his focus as his mom grabbed his arm and tugged him towards her. He had forgotten that his mother was there and looked up at her as she began to talk to him. "Come on, Cloud... We shouldn't keep them here any longer." He looked at his mom as she smiled at the other lady.

"Goodbye, Elymra. I'm so sorry about my Cloud here; he can be such a goofball sometimes."

His mother's booming laughter filled the air and with that he was whisked away from the little girl and her mom.

Cloud held his mom's hand as they walked away and after some quick deliberation, he shyly looked behind him and saw the girl waving goodbye to him, smiling as always. He managed a small smile and felt his cheeks heat up slightly causing him to look ahead again.

"Let's go, Aerith..." His ears perked from hearing that name and he looked at the flower he had just received. _"Aerith..."_The thin lines of Cloud lip's curved up gracefully for a moment and then it broke out into a wide grin as he raised his hand that was clutching the flower up to his mom.

"Look mom, I got a pretty flower."

--

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**author's notes: **_Did you catch a slight resemblance to something here? - snickers -_

So, I'm planning to make this a multi-chapter story based on Cloud and Aerith when they're young. I also plan on making them grow up later on in the story, so there will be romance. Don't think there will be a solid plot to this, probably just random, cutesy drabbles. If you have some cute ideas, please share them, I may need it later. :D Oh yes, and I'm sorry if this was a boring chapter, I promise I'll make the next ones more interesting. :3

Anyways, reviews will always be appreciated! as they boost my confidence up. xD :heart:  
Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	2. Nice to Meet You

**Chapter 2**  
Nice to Meet You

"_Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."_

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"_Aerith, huh? Wonder if I'll ever see her again..."_

_--_

"Cloud!"

Little Cloud was at it yet again, except this time his mother wasn't chasing after him but instead, calling out to him.  
The young boy, clad in a white tee and blue shorts, stopped in his tracks and turned around to see what his mother wanted though he had a slight idea of what it was.

"Be careful Cloud! Don't talk to strangers! And come back by 8 o clock. . ."

He rolled his sapphire blue eyes.

"_Sharp."_

"SHARP!"

Knew it.  
Cloud nodded with a smile and waved goodbye to his over-protective mom before turning around and running off to explore the somber slums of Midgar.

--

Cloud walked through the slums of Midgar with no fear in his heart. He had always been used to the junkies around here and was a bit of a daredevil himself. He had no idea where he was going, he just simply let his feet bring him to wherever they were going. The boy noticed that everything around him was somber and dull. Nothing had color to it, the sky barely held its beautiful blue but instead obtained a slate-blue that was nothing short of admirable.

He walked past a playground – _gray_, everything was gray, except for this one red bar though it held no importance to him. He continued walking, noticing a building with a broken cross on it. He stopped and examined it carefully, noticing something that was shiny and… golden on the roof.

"_Hey.. What's that?" _ He took a few steps forward and excitement began to bubble in his blood._"I bet it's something really cool!" _A smile appeared on his face and the young boy charged towards the building, hoping to find something really cool on top of the roof. Cloud reached the building, he stopped before a bunch of boxes stacked on top of each other and realized that he was in the back of some run-down building. He kept his eyes on the golden shine on the roof and was determined to reach it. _"How can I get up there...?" _

The boy thought while his eyes scanned the area for a way to get up there. He noticed that the stack of boxes lead to a plank that extended to another building which wasn't too far from the one with the golden shine. _"Hmm..."_ A mischievous look crossed his face and he began climbing the boxes.

His tiny hands fit perfectly into the cracks of the wooden boxes and he easily hoisted himself up each of the boxes.A small bead of sweat trickled down the side of his cheek and his face was scrunched with concentration and slight fatigue. _"Come on, Cloud... You can do it... Just one... more!" _He finally reached the top! He slumped on the box as he caught his breath and looked at the plank that lead to the other building. _"Okay Cloud, you can do this! You're almost there, just gotta get to that building then jump across to get to the golden light..." _

Drawing in a deep breath, Cloud stood up and balled his hands. The distance between the box and the building wasn't far, it was pretty short, all he had to do was run across it. He took in another deep breath and planned. _"Okay... I'll just run across this plank and then once I reach that building I'll jump across! ... And pray that I don't fall and die." _He closed his eyes, his hands were shaking but he tightened them, and drawing in one last breath, he took off.

The plank was vibrating underneath his heavy footsteps, the moment he reached the roof of the building it had broken in half and fallen to the ground with a _thump_. He didn't care though, he stuck to his plan and leapt towards the roof of the other building the moment he set his foot on the solid concrete.

Everything felt like slow motion when he was no longer on something solid. The wind blew between his golden spikes and lightly tickled the skin of his face. His eyes were set on the roof and he flung his hands up as his feet made contact with the loose shingles of the building. His lips stretched into a small smile as he successfully landed on the roof but then, all of a sudden, the shingles beneath his feet began to crumble. They creaked underneath the weight and drooped then, lacking the strength to keep Cloud on, they broke. Once again, everything was in slow motion but this time, his life passed through his eyes.

"_Whoooooaaa!"_

--

_Hello..._

"_What...?"_

_Are... you... okay? _

"_Huh?"_

"Oh! He moved..."

"_What?"_

He began to stir awake, the darkness was slowly being replaced by light – a nice, golden light. _"Yess, I finally found it..." _He felt his eyes begin to widen and the golden light was getting brighter, his lips began to curve up and everything around him was becoming clearer. That was when he noticed a sweet smell was in the air and a pair of green eyes were staring right at him. _"An angel?"_

"Hello-o, are you okay?" That voice sounded so familiar, yet he couldn't pinpoint it. He felt his head move and forced his lips to make a sound. "A-am I dead...?" A familiar sounding giggle filled the air and a girl with beautiful green eyes flashed before his mind._"Aerith..."_

He felt something tug at his shoulders and he finally regained conscience.

"No, you're not dead." Her voice was amused with slight laughter to it. Cloud opened his eyes wide and noticed that he was surrounded by a golden light and... flowers? _"Ugh..."_He forced himself to sit up and his head began to pound. "Ow..." He groaned softly but Aerith heard him and giggled again.

"Are you okay?" He looked at her and knew that it was the same Aerith he had met the other day. Her friendly green eyes looked at him with concern and her finger was pointing at a ginormous hole in the roof. "You fell through the roof. It surprised me!" Her gentle smile replaced the thin line of her lips and Cloud could only stare. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at her with confusion. "Um... Sorry?" She giggled again and shook her head from side-to-side. "It's okay." Her small figure then walked closer to Cloud and she placed her hands on her hips, leaning towards him a bit. "Well, are you okay or not?" Her eyebrow raised and Cloud immediately shook his head, stammering as he answered her.

"Uh... Um... Y-yeah, I'm okay." She tilted her head to the side again, and nodded her head. "Good." She turned around and crouched into the green that was all around them. _"Flowers...?"_Cloud had just noticed them but was more concerned of the giant hole in the roof. He stood up, brushing the dirt off his blue shorts and rubbed his head while looking down at Aerith. "I... Did _that?_" Aerith nodded her head without looking at Cloud and as he looked at the hole, he couldn't help but gasp in awe.

"You're... Cloud, right?" Cloud widened his eyes at the sound of his name. He turned around and saw that Aerith was now looking at him, her head was tilted to the side slightly. He shyly nodded and answered her. "Yeah... How did you kn—" That giggled interrupted him and her soft voice was heard again. "I remember, your mom had called you that." She smiled again and placed her hand on her chest.

"My name is—"

"Aerith." Her eyes widened in shock at the sound of_ her_ name. She watched the young, blonde boy closely and her brows knitted together in confusion. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Cloud.

"I remember, your mom had called you that." Cloud felt his cheeks heat up slightly but paid no attention to them. He shyly smiled at her and gained a smile back. Aerith clasped her hand in delight and approached Cloud. As she got closer, she extended her arm to him and held out her small hand. She looked at him with kindness, and with the glow of the sun engulfing her body, Cloud realized that Aerith was quite the pretty girl, almost like an... angel.

He smiled at her in bliss and grabbed her hand, holding it firmly.

"It's nice to meet you, Cloud."

"Yeah... You too... Aerith."

--

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**a/n**: yay, another chapter Sorry if it was boring again. xD; _You must know what this resembles! _The first one was supposed to resemble their first meeting, you know when Cloud asked to buy the flower, or rather Aerith did but I'm sure all you CxA fans made him buy it. :3  
Anyways, yes. I'm running out of cute-sy ideas, preach them to me:D

trankwil- out. Stay tuned for the next chappie!  
(RnR, if you want :3)


	3. Wild Imagination

a/n: thanks to SimpleNClean92, Beeria, and last but certainly not least, roxas-kh for the reviews.

Just to clarify:  
_italicized words _is Cloud's imagination.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story, except _maybe_ the idea. xD;;

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**Chapter 3**

Wild Imagination

"_I wonder how the sun is shining down on us..." _

_- insert Flowers Blooming in the Church / FFVII OST, track 12 -_

"Clo-oud..."

The blonde haired boy snapped out of his reverie as he heard the sweetest voice (rather than his mother's rough one) call his name.

"Huh?! What?" He heard a soft chuckling and turned his attention to the small girl sitting beside her. He rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment and sheepishly smiled while looking down to the flower-covered ground beneath them. "Sorry Aerith..." Again, that amused giggle sung in the air like a set of tiny bells disturbed by the wind. A small hand gripped Cloud's shoulder and he looked up, finding himself staring at a pair of emerald green eyes. "It's okay, Cloud. You don't have to say sorry." That gentle smile played at the corners of her lips which only made his own curve up slightly in understanding.

Aerith's hand let go of Cloud's shoulder and went back to tending the flowers that were miraculously growing in the old abandoned church. Cloud watched her for awhile, then set his eyes back onto the hole that let the sun shine down on them.

"Hey Aerith..." Cloud spoke, his voice was soft, as if he was heavy in thought.

The girl looked up from her care and answered him with a soft hum of her voice. Cloud lied down upon the bed of flowers that cushioned his fall and averted his attention to Aerith, who was still tending to her flowers.

"Why do you think the sun is shining down on us? ...I mean, isn't there a plate built around Midgar, that blocks the sun out?" He closed his eyes and frowned at the thought, "isn't that why this place is so dark and gloomy?" Young Aerith brushed off her hands and sat closer beside Cloud. She hugged her knees against her chest and began looking at the hole in the ceiling, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays wash over her whole body. She tilted her head to the side in thought and then answered.

"Hmm... I don't know Cloud but whatever the reason is, I'm sure it's a good one." Cloud scrunched his lips to one side and knitted his brows together in deep thought. "Hmm…" Aerith noticed the state he was in, just by looking into his eyes, and not wanting to sit here all day thinking about the sun, she poked his forehead and stared at him with eyes full of vivacity.

"Hey Cloud, do you know what a bodyguard is?" Her voice was light and cheery, yet mystified with wonder. Cloud flinched at the poke on his forehead and sat up as soon as Aerith asked her question, he rubbed his forehead while looking at her with his big, innocent blue eyes that seemed to look puzzled.

"A body- what?" He bit his bottom lip and raised his brow at the brunette. She smiled at the lack of knowledge he held and explained while using some hand gestures for effect.

"You know, a bodyguard! Someone who protects someone else, whether they are hired to or not…" Cloud blinked, and then broke out into a fit of giggles as he watched Aerith make ridiculous hand movements. Aerith was puzzled at first but then later on joined him as she finally figured out why he was laughing.

After what seemed like forever, Cloud eased out of his laughter while rubbing his eyes and then questioned Aerith of her totally random question.

"Hahaha… I see now. What do you want with bodyguards anyways, Aerith?"

The brunette's laughter eased into a soft giggle. Her green eyes set themselves on Cloud and her laughing lips stabilized themselves into a strong grin that bared her small pearly whites.

"Mama said that every girl needed one. So…" Her voice faded, smile gone, and Cloud found that she was struggling with what to say next. He leaned towards her, and looked her right in the eye. "Hmm-m?" Aerith leaned back, surprised from the sudden closeness and felt her blood rush to the center of her cheeks. She ducked her head, her large bangs hid her blushing face and she stuttered, finding the right words to say.

"So-o... I-I was just wondering..." Aerith suddenly looked up and stared right into bright, sapphire eyes. She grabbed Cloud's hands in hers and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Willyoubemybodygaurd?" Her voice came out like a buzz, it took Cloud minutes to figure out what she had said but in the end all he could think about was the fact that Aerith was holding his hands.

With his mouth slightly agape and cheeks flushing red, Cloud gulped and stammered in response.

"Uh... Um... Uhm... W-wha...W-what do I get in re..." He took in a deep breathe, "return...?" His voice had softened to a whisper as he mentally scolded himself for talking like an idiot. But all thoughts were vanished once Aerith smiled that smile of the sun that sent unfamiliar feelings to flutter in his stomach. _(a/n: wasn't that a mouthful? xD)_

She let go of his hands and pointed her finger, indicating something behind him, then her expression suddenly changed from peaceful to mock surprise. "You can save us from _that_!" With a sly smile, Aerith stood up and ran away from Cloud, leaving him confused and clueless. She ran towards one of the ruined pews and shouted to the abandoned blonde. "How wild is your imagination, Cloud?" Her laughter filled their air with joy and Cloud stood up, catching on to Aerith, and turned around to where Aerith had pointed.

_Cloud saw a large, green dragon; it was fat and had purple wings smaller than its head, it was nothing dangerous-looking but the way its eyes looked struck fear in Cloud's stomach. The young blonde countered the dragon's furious glare with his own and, hearing Aerith's laughter in the background, Cloud quickly ran back and grabbed a 'sword' from the ground. He swung it around skillfully and turned to look at Aerith, his eyes were shining with perseverance._

"Aerith! Run away, I'll protect us!" He saw Aerith nod and watched as her retreating body made it to the door.

_The boy swung his sword in circles once again, giving his full attention to the dragon that was sitting there, under the sunlight. He smiled smugly, and then with a childish battle cry, he charged at the large thing that was too large to move away. It sat there, roaring and flailing it's small arms and tail as Cloud came charging at it with his sword in hand. He leapt up, holding the sword behind his head and was about to bash the brains out of the dragon when..._

A scream.

It only took one sharp shriek to bring Cloud back to reality and, as he stood in the empty church, arms bent over his head, he realized who could've made that horrifying yell and his heart jump-started with fear for that person. He quickly rushed towards the door with one thing lingering in his mind.

"_Aerith!"_

_--_

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**author's notes:** Man, aren't these idea's _soo_ original? xD /sarcasm 

Thanks for the ideas you guys, I've managed to think up a few more but sadly, it's based off of the game's story, slightly. (sweat)  
Anyways, hoped you enjoyed this chapter. :)  
Stay tuned for the next one!

Reviews are loved and appreciated:heart:


	4. My Hero

Here we have it! The next installment to "A Beautiful Friendship" Sorry it took forever. P  
Anyways, thanks to AngelJeanne and Simple for the review. 3

All italicized speech is Cloud's thoughts, except for the last one, which is Aerith's.

**Chapter 4**

**My Hero **

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Cloud rushed outside of the Church where he saw three boys crowding around his friend. He had just witnessed one of the boys push Aerith down and quickly rushed towards them to save her. He shoved the two boys out of his way and stood in front of Aerith, protectively spreading his arms out, and glared at the boy who had pushed Aerith down.

"Keep you dirty hands away from her!" Cloud yelled at the boy and looked at the two other boys threateningly. The one who had pushed Aerith down stared at Cloud, raising a brow at him in amusement.

"Oh Who's this little shrimp?" Cloud glared at him even harder and gritted his teeth, shouting. "I'm not a shrimp! My name is Cloud." He felt Aerith's hand on his shoulder and looked at her but when the bullies started laughing, teasing his name, he glared at them once again and emitted a low growl from his throat. The boys mockingly shivered in fear at Cloud and began teasing him again.

"Ooooh, I'm so scared! ..."  
"What's he gonna do? I hope he doesn't hurt us boss!" The boys burst out in laughter once again and Cloud could feel his blood boil in anger and mock. He clenched his hands into tight fists and as the boys continued to laugh, he swung his fist at one of the boys and slugged one right in the stomach.

"Cloud!" Aerith was shocked at what Cloud had just done. She went to his side and watched over him with worry glazing her normally bright green eyes. The bullies were shocked as well, they stood over there "boss" and spat out questions at him, asking if he was all right. The one who got punched shoved his followers out of the way and growled, glaring at Cloud who was currently being looked over by Aerith. He held his stomach and walked up to Cloud, clenching his hand tightly. When he reached the two, he stopped, wound his arm back and swung releasing a angered yell from his throat.

"CLOUD!!"

"Boss!"

Their screams were heard just as the bully's fist connected to Cloud's face, unleashing a rather hard sounding 'smack.'

Cloud fell to the ground, the right side of his face was burning with pain and he held it in his hand, a low groan of agony emitted from his throat. The bully was going to hit him again but was held back by his other friends. Seeing the state that Cloud was in, the boys decided to leave and ran away before any adults would catch them.

_"Cowards!"_

Cloud felt Aerith's arms wrap around his neck and soon felt himself resting on something soft. Aerith's safe hold around him disappeared as she held her face in worry and looked down at Cloud with fear. Her eyes began to water and her voice was soft and timid when she spoke to him. "Cloud... Are you okay?" Cloud took in a breath and slowly sat up, turning around to look at Aerith. He noticed that she was about to cry and put on his best smile, laughing lightly.

"Yeah, I'm okay... You don't have to worry about me, Aerith!" He rubbed the back of his head and continued laughing sheepishly, disregarding the whole seriousness of the mood. Aerith looked away, her tears finally left her eyes and left a trail of salted water down her pale cheeks. She balled her hands into loose fists and let the tears fall freely, seeing a few drop on the ground making the dirt darken from the moisture. "Cloud..." Her voice was so soft, Cloud could barely hear her. He stopped laughing and looked at her remorsefully. _"Aerith..."_

Tightening her fists, Aerith finally looked up at Cloud, meeting with his sad gaze, and plunged herself at him. She buried her face in his shoulder and tightened her hold on him. "Cloud, you're such an idiot..." Cloud was surprised at the sudden embrace and looked down at her, a little blush had begun to color his cheeks. _"Aerith..."_

She finally looked up, staring at Cloud right in the eyes while wiping away her tears. "Why did you do that Cloud...?" Her voice was again, timid and gentle and she loosened her arms around him, waiting for his answer. Cloud looked at her and then smiled a smile that Aerith had never seen before. He put on a heroic expression and clenched his hand into a fist in front of them.

"Because, I'm your bodyguard, silly."

Cloud began to laugh and Aerith joined him. Their laughter rung in the air in perfect harmony, creating a perfect song that portrayed their joy wholly. She hugged him again and felt his arms wrap around her.

"_Cloud, you're my hero..." _


	5. Playground History

Thanks for the reviews everyone. :3  
Here's chapter 5 -- short and boring. xD

**Chapter 5**

**Playground History**

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Laughter was heard coming from one of the only parks built in the slums of Midgar. Flashes of white and green zoomed down the large, moogle-shaped slide and tumbled back onto the gray dirt with a '_thump._' The girl with chestnut brown hair stood up, brushing the dirt off her green skirt and laughed, looking down at her friend. 

"That was fun, wasn't it Cloud?"

The boy with blonde, spiky hair pushed himself up and nodded enthusiastically. A soft laughter escaped from his lips as he took his friend's hand and stood up. "Haha, yeah!" They shared a smile together before Aerith turned around and ran up the stairs of the slide, she turned around at the steps and looked at Cloud, gesturing him to follow with a wave of her hand. "Come on, Cloud! Over here."

Cloud nodded and ran after Aerith up the steps. She continued up the stairs and instead of going down the slide, she climbed up to the roof and took a seat between the eyes of the moogle. She popped her head out to the side and looked down at Cloud, waving at him with a smile on her face. Cloud looked at her dumbly and was confused but shrugged it off. Following what Aerith had done, he climbed up to the roof of the slide and sat down beside her. As he sat down, he looked at her with his large blue eyes and questioned her.

"Are you tired, Aerith?" She looked at him, nodding slightly and hugged her knees to her chest.

"A bit. Sorry, did you want to go down again?"

Cloud shook his head quickly, "No, it's okay. We can rest." He laughed weakly and smoothed his hand through his blond locks. Aerith nodded and looked beyond the playground, searching for something to stare at. As they both sat in silence, something came across Aerith's mind that she always wondered.

"Cloud... What do you think it's like... outside of... Midgar?"

Cloud looked at Aerith, he was slightly taken aback by her sudden question. He blinked twice, thinking of what to say and looked away from Aerith, planting his hands on the cool metal of the slide.

"I wasn't born in Midgar." He looked up, staring right into Aerith's eyes as she turned her gaze at him when he responded. "I lived somewhere else... In the countryside."

Aerith became intrigued, she never knew Cloud was born somewhere else. Interested, she shifted her body so that she was facing Cloud's direction and asked him with curiosity in her voice. "Where were you born then?"

Cloud smiled, amused by Aerith's sudden interest and placed his hands on his lap. "Nibelheim."

Aerith blinked, hearing the name of Cloud's birth place. "Nibel...heim?" Cloud saw her lips stretch up into a smile and rolled his eyes, knowing well what was going to happen next. Aerith placed her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle the giggle that wanted to burst out from the ridiculous name but failed to do so as she let it out anyways. Her laughter rung in the silent air, and Cloud could help but smile at her. He rubbed the back of his head and looked down,

"It's not that funny you know..." His voice was quiet and Aerith detected a slight annoyance in it. She eased her laughter into a soft giggle and rubbed her eyes before completely stopping. She regained herself and looked at Cloud, slightly embarrassed but still very amused.

"Sorry Cloud but it's just such a... a strange name..." Cloud shrugged, he got that a lot when he told people where he used to live, so he was used to it. He shook it off and looked at Aerith directly and tilted his head to the side slightly, a habit he picked up from the flower girl.

"What about you? Have you always lived in Midgar?" Aerith shook her head and looked skyward to the dark plate that hung over Midgar. Her face somehow darkened with sadness, Cloud noticed the sudden change of her expression and was about to say something before she interrupted him.

"Nope, I wasn't born here either... Mama said that she found me at the train station, alone and crying. I don't remember what she said after that." Aerith closed her eyes, moisture gathered at the rim of her eyes but she forced it to stay in. Cloud looked at her with sympathy and grabbed the back of his head again, wishing that he never asked her the question. The air felt awkward and somber around the two but then Aerith suddenly turned around and stared at an opening beyond the playground boundaries. She turned back to look at Cloud, and the sad expression that was on her face was replaced with one that was happy and excited. It didn't fool Cloud but he shrugged it off, not wanting to make the situation worse. Just then, a wagon rode into the opening beyond the boundaries and Aerith tugged Cloud's shoulder, her voice chirruped in the silent air as an idea popped in her head.

"Hey, Cloud. You ever been to the Wall Market?"

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Hey, sorry for the boring chapter. P I promise the next one will be much more entertaining. I was planning on writing this with the next chapter but I got kinda lazy, so like the game, here's something to get you excited for the next installment. xD

Anyways, hoped you liked it despite the shortness and lack of entertainment...  
Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	6. Always Be There

a/n: Thanks again for the reviews, you two.

Whee, I'm sure you'll all be surprised at the end. xD 

**Chapter 6 **

**Always Be There**

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"_Hey Cloud, you ever been to the Wall Market?" _

"_...Um, no." _

"_... Me neither!"_

* * *

"Um.. Aerith, are you sure we're allowed to be here?"

Cloud asked with a bit of fear and uncertainty in his voice, he wasn't a hundred percent sure that this place was right for children, and was a bit scared himself of the strange people that infested the suspicious streets of the Wall Market. Aerith just walked along side her friend, not noticing his discomfort and was instead looking around the strange place, mesmerized by how bright it was compared to the slums. They walked deeper into the heart of the market, Cloud was beginning to notice that there weren't any children walking around and started to become paranoid. His hands began to tighten in discomfort while he tried to avoid the stares of the weird junkies that sat on the streets.

"Aerith..." His voice was quiet and full of fear but again, Aerith didn't notice.

"Hey boy! How 'bout sparing some gil for you good ol' uncle!!" Cloud yelped at the man's sudden advance on him and jumped closer to Aerith, accidentally grabbing onto her hand. Noticing that he was gripping onto Aerith's hand, he quickly let go and blushed, not only because he actually held Aerith's hand but also because of the fact that he quickly cowered away from the man and found safety in the girl he was supposed to protect.

Aerith finally noticed his discomfort and giggled after Cloud had let go of her hand. They both stopped in the middle of the road and Aerith looked down at the mortified boy rather amusedly.

"Cloud... Are you scared?" A sly smile crept upon her lips and she watched as the boy quickly shook his head at her question.

"N-No!" His voice was hesitant and shaky, a sign showing that he was still embarrassed. He looked up to Aerith, glaring at her amused expression and looked away in a huff. He heard the girl burst out into a small giggle and scrunched his face in annoyance. "You know, I really wasn't sca—"

He stopped, noticing that something had slipped in-between his hand, and looked down in surprise. Aerith had stopped laughing and grabbed her friend's hand, a gentle smile graced her face as Cloud looked up, flabbergasted.

"Um... A-Aerith... ?"

Aerith giggled and spoke. "It's okay if you're scared Cloud, I'll protect you."

Cloud knitted his brows together, confused at what Aerith had just said. He tightened his grip around Aerith's and searched for her eyes. "Hu.h...? But I'm the one that's supposed to be protecting you..."

Aerith giggled at how ignorant Cloud was with people. She swung their arms together and continued to walk, dragging Cloud along with her.

"That's true... But you know, sometimes bodyguards need protecting too."

Cloud became even more confused, "But isn't the purpose of a bodyguard to protect...? Why would they need protection if they were already pro— Ow..."

Aerith lightly bonked Cloud on the head and laughed, watching as he tended his sore head with the soothing rubs of his hand.

"Just think of it this way, if you're ever alone, I'll always be there for you Cloud."

Again, Cloud was confused. Confused to the point that he didn't even know what Aerith was talking about anymore. He didn't know if it was because he was just stupid, or maybe Aerith was being random again... He assumed the latter and commented, looking at Aerith as they continued to walk around the market.

"Aerith, you're really random sometimes. You're so weird." Her green eyes found his blue ones, and she smiled delightfully. " I know But you still like me, right Cloud?"

Cloud laughed at her response and nodded. "Yeah."

It was Aerith's turn to laugh this time and she began to walk faster, releasing Cloud's hand in the process. She took a few steps ahead of Cloud and stopped before him, a benevolent grin tattooed itself on her face.

"See Cloud, when I hold your hand, it isn't so scary anymore right?"

Cloud stopped in front of her and didn't realize that he wasn't afraid anymore. He gasped in the sudden realization and nodded at Aerith, smiling graciously to her. Aerith took Cloud's hand in hers again and continued to walk. "Besides, I'm sure this place is safe for kids... Look at the girl, she's probably younger than both of us and she's walking around by herself!"

Aerith pointed to a young girl ahead of them, she was small and short with long black hair, a round innocent face confirmed that she was just a mere child like Cloud and Aerith.

Cloud turned his head in the same direction and looked at the girl Aerith had pointed out. Somehow, that girl; with the long, black and the large, black eyes, reminded him of someone he knew back then. He squinted his eyes, trying to get a clearer look of the small girl and tightened his hands in frustration because he couldn't pinpoint who she was. Aerith noticed the tight pressure on her hand and looked at Cloud, noticing his troubled state.

"Is something wrong, Cloud?"

Cloud kept silent, keeping his eyes on the small girl ahead of them and finally his mind and memory clicked together. His eyes widened in surprise and he gasped, hesitantly whispering something with disbelief in his tone.

"T-Tifa?"


	7. The Honey Bee Inn Pageant !

a/n: This is by far, my longest chapter here. xD But it should be entertaining. :3

**Simple: **hehe, thanks for always reviewing my stories, I'm glad you like them and... I really thought that writing these chapters that were parallel to the story would be disliked because of lack of originality but I guess I was wrong. I'm glad you like this story so far!

**Angel: **And you! Thank you also for reviewing this story. xD Really, your reviews is what's making me continue to write this story, so thank you. Yes, CloudxAerith forever! And I'm not sure, I guess you'll have to find out in this installment !

Here you go everyone! (btw, there are some speeches without any hit as to who was saying it, you can just choose whoever you want to be saying it.)

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**The Honey Bee Inn**** Pageant !**

* * *

_"T-Tifa?"_

Aerith looked straight at Cloud when she heard the name, her brows knitted together in curiosity.

"Tifa? Do you know her Cloud?"

Cloud didn't hear Aerith when she had asked him something, he was too busy thinking up reasons as to why Tifa was here. His mind wondered on the many possibilities and then somehow he started to debate about whether he should approach her or not. The young boy stood there, tightening his hold on Aerith's hand until she couldn't handle the pressure anymore. She shook their joined hands together, trying to get free and finally yelped at the boy's strong grip.

"Ow! Cloud, you're hurting me!"

Cloud finally realized what he was doing and let go quickly, looking at Aerith with apologetic eyes. "Sorry about that Aerith…" Aerith grabbed her throbbing hand and shook her head politely, smiling at the small boy. She was about to speak when a soft voice came up from beside them.

"Cloud?"

They both looked at the little girl who had spoken, and Cloud immediately began blushing as he stared at the girl from his hometown. Aerith noticed this, she giggled to herself at how funny Cloud was acting around the girl, she thought deeply before flashing a smile to her and placing a hand on Cloud's shoulder

"So you do know her Cloud… Tifa… Was it?" Aerith looked at the young raven-haired girl and extended her hand out to her. "Hi, I'm Aerith. I'm Cloud's friend!"

Tifa looked at Aerith with confusion but took her hand anyway, shaking it firmly. Her eyes were set on the blonde boy beside the brunette girl but she smiled and introduced herself too.

"I'm Tifa. Nice to meet you." She let go of Aerith's hand and looked at her for a split-second before looking back at Cloud, who was still silent and looking down to the ground, hiding his face entirely. "Cloud, what are you doing here?" Cloud suddenly looked up, his blushing face had cooled down but he was still a bit nervous, he tried to avoid the young girl's black eyes.

"What are _you_ doing here, Tifa?"

Aerith watched as the two continued to stare at each other, noticing that both of them were trying to avoid their gazes. She scratched her head, wondering how the two were acquainted and why they were acting this way. Tossing her thoughts aside, she smiled smally and was about to say something but then Tifa had interrupted her again.

"I'm here… because of a contest…" The small girl spoke quietly, clearly embarrassed by the reason of her attendance in Midgar. Both Cloud and Aerith looked at Tifa, "What contest?" Aerith had asked all of a sudden with curiosity and excitement clearly in her voice. Cloud looked at Aerith for the first time since Tifa came and then looked at Tifa, nodding at Aerith's question. "Yeah, what contest?" His voice was as quiet as ever but both girls managed to hear him.

Tifa stared at the ground, embarrassed and uncomfortable. She traced a small circle on the ground with her feet as she began to explain to the two eager children.

"We-ell… It's this contest children enter and they dress up really nice to get judged by this guy that lives here… The winner gets a 1000 Gil prize." She finally looked up, seeing some pretty shocked faces. Her cheeks began to color lightly, and she looked away again when Aerith had started to jump up and down, excitedly.

"Wow! 1000 gil? That's a lot, do you know what we could do if we won that money Cloud? ANYTHING! We should enter it too!"

Cloud watched as Aerith jumped up and down, shouting in a crazed manner. He slowly backed away from his friend and rubbed the back of his head.

"U-um…" Tifa began to speak again which caught both Aerith's and Cloud's attention. "Well, the thing is… The contest is only for girls… So I don't think Cloud can enter it… You can, Aerith… but not Cloud."

Aerith had stopped jumping and looked at Tifa, a quiet dejected look slipped onto her face. She clasped her hands to her chest and looked at both Cloud and Tifa alternately.

"But… If we both enter the pageant, Cloud will be alone… I don't want Cloud to be alone…" She bit her lower lip, and placed a finger on her chin.

"But I want to win the money too…" She stood there, trying to make a decision but the two choices were much too hard to let go so easily. Cloud and Tifa stood there, befuddled at Aerith's dilemma. Cloud began rubbing his head again and smiled, laughing weakly.

"Haha… It's okay Aerith, you two can enter the contest, I'll just watch…" He was being polite to cover the fact that he _really_ didn't want to join the two girls. His fake laugh continued to sound until Aerith had formed an 'X' sign by crossing her arms together and shaking her head vigorously.

"No Cloud! I don't want to leave you alone, I promised that I was gonna stay by you, so we're gonna figure out a way to get you into that contest!" She smiled wide and began thinking of possible ways to get Cloud into the contest. Cloud, on the other hand, was thinking up ways to _not_ be in the contest. He shook his head from side-to-side, imitating Aerith's hand formation and was saying 'no' to her. Tifa watched the two, _"They sure are weird…" _ She scratched the side of her cheek while the other two were occupied with their own things. Suddenly, Aerith had broken from her deep concentration and clasped her hands together in delight.

"I know!" She looked at the two kids with her emerald eyes heavily, and widely grinned at her perfect plan.

"Tifa… You and I will… Dress Cloud up as a girl!"

Their mouths went agape, eyes widened in shock, and there was silence in the air. Aerith clapped happily, not noticing the other two's shocked state and laughed to herself, imagining what Cloud would look like as a girl. Tifa and Cloud just remained silent until Tifa accidentally slipped out a giggle and burst out laughing.

Her giggle rung in the air delightfully. Cloud, thinking that she was laughing at Aerith's ridiculous idea, joined Tifa, guffawing loudly in mock.

"Hahahah! That's a **great** idea, Aerith!" Tifa proclaimed.

Cloud stopped laughing, "_**What?**__"_

Tifa continued to laugh however, imagining an image of Cloud dressed up as a girl as well. She agreed with Aerith and thought that turning Cloud into a girl would be fun. Finally stopping, she wiped her eyes of the tears that came out and looked at Aerith, smiling.

"I think we should do that Aerith! It would be way too fun…ny…" She burst out into another round of giggles while Cloud just continued to stare at her with disbelief.

Aerith smiled happily and walked up to Tifa, she looked down at the laughing girl and put out her hand for a high-five. Tifa slapped it weakly, trying to retain her loose giggles but failed to do so. (The image of Cloud as a girl still lingered in her mind)

"All right! Then it's settled… Cloud, from now on, you're going to be … Cloudette!" Aerith pointed at the shocked boy and then started to laugh with Tifa.

"No." He finally said something.

The laughing stopped and the two girls looked at the boy with confusion. Tifa regained herself and stood up straight, looking at Cloud sadly. "But Cloud!"

"No." His response was cool, yet stern.

This time Aerith protested, looking at Cloud with her best puppy dog eyes and bringing out her plump bottom lip. "But Cloud, it'll be fun, being a girl isn't so ba—"

"NO! No,nononono!" This time, he lost it.

Cloud looked at the two girls with flames in his eyes. _"There is no way (in hell) I'm going to let these girls turn me into a girl!" _He clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth, showing that he was serious about not wanting to go through their horrible plan. The two girls looked at him with their best persuading faces but that didn't work on him; he wasn't going to lose, he wasn't going to let go of his masculinity that easily!

Tifa and Aerith both looked at each other while Cloud was waving his arms around in disagreement and purposely shouting out, 'no', repeatedly. They nodded at each other and then looked at the tantrum throwing boy before taking in a breath and shouting out together,

"Clo-oudd!"

* * *

"I think we should choose the silk one, it's so much prettier and it shines too!" 

"We should get it in red… No, maybe blue? Oh wait! How about purple!"

"_Stupid girls and their stupid ways…" _

Cloud sat in the changing room of a store in the Wall Market. His face was annoyed as he sat in front of the mirror in complete privacy. He heard the girl's over-eager voices and was disgusted at how they were enjoying this. He propped his elbow on his knee and placed his chin on his hand while waiting for the two to finish choosing out his… _dress. _

"_I hate this. I hate them. I knew coming to the Wall Market was going to be a bad idea…" _

Aerith and Tifa pulled the curtain open and came in all of a sudden, surprising Cloud. Once he regained himself, he purposely glared at them as they started to hang things on the hook. Aerith smiled at Cloud, ignoring his glares and stepped outside with Tifa. Placing her hand on the curtain, she said one thing before pulling it closed.

"Okay Cloud. We chose out the clothes, all you have to do is put it on!" They both smiled, hidden delight was masked underneath their gentle grins.

Cloud continued to glare at them until the red curtain blocked his view. He stood in the change room by himself and crossed his arms over his chest while looking at the clothes they had chosen out for him. His stubbornness wouldn't help him out here, so he did what he had to do.

He started to change.

* * *

As Cloud was changing, Aerith and Tifa waited for him. The two took the time to acquaint themselves and Aerith was the one to break the ice with a question she had always wondered since Tifa's appearance. 

"So-o… How do you know Cloud, Tifa?"

Tifa looked at Aerith, her black eyes watched the girl carefully and she blinked, looking away. "We were neighbours back when Cloud still lived in his house at Nibelheim."

Aerith gasped silently in realization and smiled down at the younger girl. "Ohh You two must've been good friends then." Aerith stopped smiling when she saw Tifa shake her head slowly, grimacing.

"No… Not really, I hung out with my crowd and he hung out with his… I wasn't really sad when he moved away but now that I've actually given the time to talk to him, I wish that I talked to him more back when he stilled lived in Nibelheim… He seems like a really nice guy."

Aerith looked down at Tifa, she wasn't sure of how she was feeling but she didn't really like the fact that she was feeling 'angry' towards Tifa. Aerith smiled, despite her true feelings and nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, he is…"

At that moment, the curtain to Cloud's room had pulled open, catching the attention of the two girls. The young, blonde boy(?) had finally come out and the girl's looked at him with sparkles in their eyes. They both ran up to Cloud and began to admire him, spitting out positive comments his way. The boy(?) scratched the back of his blonde… wig and looked at them, sighing at the sadness of the two girls.

"Wow, Cloud… I mean, Cloudette! You look great!"

"Yeah, just like a rea—Like the pretty girl you are!"

Cloud sighed again, and rolled his eyes at their comments. "_Girls…"_

* * *

The three girls (two girls and one boy, actually) ran to the Honey Bee Mansion, where the pageant was held. Cloud was having trouble running in his geta, (wooden sandals) that matched with his purple kimono. The other two girls ran quickly, realizing that they were late and prompted Cloud to be faster. 

"Come on Cloudette, hurry up!" Aerith slowed down to wait for Cloud(ette) and when he finally caught up to her, she grabbed his hand and dragged him along with her, the red tail of her dress was violently whipping at Cloud's head as they ran.

Finally, they had reached the mansion and was in time for the judging. (a/n: lol yeah, that's all it takes! Dress up and get judged by… /secret/)

There were tons of girls at the mansion; small ones, big ones, pretty ones … ugly ones, the only similarity between all of them was that they were young and dressed up. Cloud scanned his surroundings carefully, taking a peek or two at the more prettier ones at the large mansion. He continued to look at Aerith until they found Tifa, who was frantically waving for their attention, and ran up to her so they would all stand together.

Aerith grinned, while Cloud stayed pessimistic and wedged himself between Aerith and Tifa, he clasped his hands together in front of him and looking down to the ground. Aerith peered over Cloud and whispered for Tifa's attention, she stuck out her hand again and congratulated Tifa on a job well done. Tifa high-fived her before bringing her attention to the doors that opened, revealing a man in nice black suit with three other men behind him.

The man held a microphone in his hands and began to speak in it, his voice was grand and suave; the perfect voice for a host.

"Hello, all you young ladies. My, I have to say that all of you look lovely this evening, I'm so glad that you've all decided to join this year's, Miss Honey Bee! Proudly sponsored by the man of the Wall Market, the 'don' of all that is "pure" and "good", Don Corneo!"

All the honey bee maids and girls clapped at the entrance of the rather large sponsor. He looked very pompous and over the top but that doesn't really matter… The Don thanked the host for his entrance and finally began to judge the girls. He walked in front of them, looking at them carefully and clasped his hands together excitedly while musing on which girl to choose to be Miss Honey Bee.

"Now, let's see…Which girl should I choose! They're all so cute and pretty... Hmm--- Hmm---!!"

He eyed the all the girls and stopped before Cloud, who was shyly looking away. The Don looked down at Cloud and smiled.

"Oh... A shy one? How cute! Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Now look at me." Cloud looked up, seeing eye-to-eye with the don and quickly turned his head away to the side. _"Oh man… I don't want him to choose me…." _ Don Corneo became frustrated and tried to face Cloud again but Cloud avoided his stare and turned his head to the other side once more. This went on for a couple of minutes until the don became too frustrated and moved on to the other girls.

Cloud sighed as the don walked away, he heard both Aerith and Tifa giggle at him.

"Oh Cloud You're so cute."

"Cloud, why'd you look away from him?"

He looked at Aerith, then Tifa and then shrugged. "I don't want to be chosen by that guy…"

Before they could say anything, the host had begun to speak again and they all noticed that the Don had come back to the podium. The host let Don Corneo speak at the podium, every girl was eager to find out who he had chosen and who was going to be the winner of the one thousand gil prize. The fat man stood there, clearing his throat and began to speak.

"All you girls are all so pretty and cute, I must thank all of you for taking the time in coming here to participate in this year's, Miss Honey Bee. I know that all of you have taken the time to dress yourselves up and if I could choose you all, I would! But unfortunately I can't... SO. This year's Miss Honey Bee is going to be… The beautiful blonde…"

Cloud choked.

"The shy but oh-so-cute…"

His hands began to clench while sweat poured from all over his body.

"SOPHIA!"

Cloud sighed, **so **relieved that he wasn't chosen. On the other hand, Tifa and Aerith were heavily disappointed that they weren't chosen. They started to whine sadly, talking about money and how they were prettier than the other girl… Cloud laughed at their loss and was about to calm them down when the Don had unexpectedly grabbed his shoulder. He tensed up, clenched his fists and slowly turned around.

The Don smiled at the pig-tailed …boy and whispered something to him that only he, Aerith and Tifa could hear.

"I'm sorry I didn't choose you girls, especially you Cloudette… But you know what? Uncle Donnie's got a secret to tell you. Come back in a few years, when you're older, and come to Uncle Donnie's mansion. I'll choose you right away. "

He gave Cloud(ette) a wink and disappeared behind the doors, leaving a shocked Cloud surrounded by laughing hyenas. (Aerith and Tifa.)

Scarred by the Don's message, Cloud clenched his hands together and looked upward to the ceiling, yelling in anger, fear, and annoyance… but mostly fear.

His scream echoed in the mansion, and possibly throughout the Wall Market but you had to be at the mansion to hear Aerith's and Tifa's laughter trilling in the background...

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Oh dear, poor Cloud. xD I'm so sorry! 

Cloud: Yeah, you better be...

Haha, anyways... Sorry if this seemed like it went by fast (like the actions and dialogue), it's really late and I probably have a **ton** of mistakes in there, huh? Yes, I'm sorry for blinding your eyes with my grammar mistakes and poorly written story. :P But I hoped you liked it, all in all... I made it a funny chapter, hope you guys laughed at some point.

Stay tuned for the next chappie! Oh, and if you liked this chapter... Review:3 Thank you.


	8. Cheer up!

a/n; Again, thanks for the reviews you guys, you're the best! 

**Chapter 8**

**Cheer up!**

* * *

"Aww, Tifa! Do you really have to go?" 

The little raven haired girl nodded at the brunette, a sad expression was clearly marked on her face. 

The trio was standing at the Midgar gates, Tifa was just about to leave when her friends had stopped her to say goodbye. Aerith was saddened that her new friend had to go, they've only had three days to get to know each other after all, and that wasn't enough for the young flower girl. Cloud, on the other hand, was indifferent as always, he stood next to Aerith and watched as the two girls sadly said goodbye and hugged each other. Tifa then looked at Cloud and smiled slightly, he returned the smile with a faint blush and looked to the ground. 

"Goodbye Cloud, it was nice seeing you again."

Cloud looked up and nodded, brushing his thumb across his nose coolly. "Yeah, you too, Tifa." 

Tifa then nodded one last time to the two and climbed into the truck. She looked outside the window and smiled before the car started and drove past the gates into the vast world outside of Midgar. She was gone. 

Aerith looked away, sad that her friend had left and wiped away a small tear that had shed from her eyes. She then started to walk away, not sure of what to do now, not really in the mood to do anything actually… A sigh escaped from her lips, one that was so crestfallen and bitter that Cloud was starting to get worried for the brunette. He quickened his steps, catching up to the girl and tried to reassure her with words he wasn't even sure of himself.

"Aw, come on Aerith… I'm sure she'll come back soon."_ Liar_. 

Aerith still didn't smile, she continued to walk straight on the sidewalk and sighed again. Cloud rubbed the back of his head and smiled, trying once again.

"Even if Tifa's gone, you still have me!" The young boy stuck his thumb to his chest and grinned widely for effect. Her lips twitched a bit but it still wasn't a smile. Aerith looked at him anyways and laughed half-heartedly. "Thanks for trying Cloud…" 

The boy's grin disappeared and his shoulders slumped. What else could he do to cheer her up? He continued to walk in the same pace as Aerith while he thought of something, and suddenly, an idea struck him. Quickening his pace, he went ahead of Aerith and stopped walking causing her to stop as well. He looked at the girl square in the eyes, and smiled his trademark smirk. 

"Hey, let's play hide-and-seek. That's your favourite game right?" Aerith looked at him weirdly and nodded slowly, what was he up to? Just at that moment, she saw him raise his hands in a defensive mode and blurt out.

"It's nothing really… I just want to play it…" His eyes then found the ground and he found himself struggling for words. "I-it's your favourite game right? So-o if we play it, you'll be happy…again." He looked up, meeting Aerith's small smile and couldn't help but feel a little happy inside. He saw Aerith nod and nodded himself before running towards the slums and yelling out to her, "you're the seeker!"

* * *

"1, 2, 3, 4…" Aerith was standing next to a bench, her eyes were closed shut and she counting the numbers out loud so that Cloud could hear her. 

Cloud was running all over the place, trying his hardest to find a good hiding spot to, well… hide. He began to panic when he heard Aerith's voice close to twenty and randomly picked out a bush and jumped behind it. 

"Twenty! Ready or not, here I come!" 

Aerith opened her eyes and turned around, scanning the area. A sigh escaped her lips and she shook her head, laughing quietly at the yellow head that stuck out like a sore thumb from behind the bush. She quietly walked towards the bush while uttering random questions as to where Cloud was. 

Cloud clamped his hand over his mouth, trying hard not to reveal where he was but when he felt something tug on his tallest spike, he couldn't help but yell out of surprise. Aerith walked through the bush, giggling slightly at the boy and shook her head.

"You're not a very good hider, Cloud. I've already found you three times!" Aerith continued to giggle, lightly teasing the younger boy and then felt something tickle at her nose. She stopped giggling, scrunched up her nose and distorted her face. Cloud couldn't help but laugh at her but when she let out that sneeze, he stopped, looked at her… and laughed some more. 

"Excuse me… Hm-m, that isn't funny Cloud." She looked at the boy coldly and held her head lightly. Cloud continued to laugh, looking at the girl cheerfully.

"I'm sorry… but you looked… so funny! Bless… You, by the way..." He said all of that in-between giggles. Aerith only shook her head, grabbing Cloud lightly and sat down, still holding her head. Cloud stopped laughing, realizing that something was wrong and looked at Aerith with worry.

"Aerith… Are you okay?" The girl shook her head and looked at him through hazy eyes, her face was beginning to heat up.

"I-it's nothing…" Cloud shook his head this time and grabbed her hand, placing his free one on her forehead. She was burning.

"Liar, you're burning up… Aerith, I think you're sick. Come on, I'll bring you home." 

Aerith didn't fight back, she stood up when Cloud had and leaned herself against him as he held her and began walked towards her home. 

--

He brought her home, this was the first time he actually came to her house. He noticed the large garden that was full of flowers and was instantly reminded of the Church. He tore his mind off it though, and quickly walked up to the front door, banging on it loudly. He heard Aerith murmur against his shoulder and the door opened wide. 

"Aerith, you don't have to ban—" 

Cloud saw the lady from before, when he first met Aerith and looked at her desperately.

"Auntie… Aerith… I think she's sick!" Aerith's mom looked at Cloud with surprise and quickly took Aerith in her arms, immediately checking her forehead. She nodded, looking at Cloud and smiled at him, gently.

"You're right… Thank you, Cloud, for bringing her back…" She cradled Aerith in her arms as knelt down to see Cloud eye to eye. "I don't think Aerith's going to do anymore playing today, maybe you should go home.." She smiled again, just like how Aerith smiled and stood up. 

Cloud looked at Aerith's mother and nodded. He turned around but before walking off, he looked back at Aerith and then her mom and spoke.

"Um, tell Aerith that I hope she feels better… and that I'll be coming to see her tomorrow!" 

He saw Elmyra nod and finally walked away, sad that the day ended short and sad that Aerith had gotten sick.

* * *

**author's notes: **heh, hope you guys liked this one:3 


	9. Author's Notes

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been updating much, school isn't making things easy. o3o;

Anyways, things should be cooling down once I finish these tests this week, so I should be able to write that next chapter this weekend. :) I'm sorry for making you wait, I hope I haven't lost any of you guys. xD;;

Alrighty, see you soon!

- trankwility

(I'll delete this when I update the next chapter) :3


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